FacebookInstagramXYouTubeEmail

A Look at the New Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates the cost of prescription opioid misuse in the United States is $78.5 billion a year, including health care, lost productivity, addiction treatment and criminal justice. In 2017, approximately 2.2 million children were directly affected by parental opioid use or their own use, and we know that Kentucky children have been particularly hard hit. There is a clear connection of adult and adolescent opioid use to childhood [...]

By |2022-09-09T12:08:56-04:00July 27th, 2022|Blog, Bloom Kentucky, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Health, Justice|
Read More

A Look at the New Benefits Cliff Task Force

For many people, receiving a raise, promotion, or new job opportunity is something to celebrate. However, for families utilizing public benefits, a raise in wages can often be met with anxiety around what that raise will mean for their benefits and overall ability to provide for their families.  The benefits cliff refers to the sudden decrease in public benefits that often occurs when recipients get a small increase in earnings. This cliff has consistently been [...]

By |2022-07-21T12:48:43-04:00July 21st, 2022|Blog, Bloom Kentucky, Economic Security, Medicaid|
Read More

Implementation of 2022 Wins for Kids and Families

Many of you advocated for the 2022 Blueprint for Kentucky's Children policy and budget priorities through legislative meetings, social media posts, attended Children’s Advocacy Week, called or emailed your legislators, and so much more throughout the 2022 legislative session. Your critical efforts paid off with legislative wins for children and positive investments in the state budget. Many new state laws go into effect 90 days after the last day of legislative session unless the bill [...]

By |2022-07-14T16:28:58-04:00July 14th, 2022|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Race Equity|
Read More

Thriving Families, Safer Children: Community-Focused Child Abuse Prevention

The Thriving Families, Safer Children work in Kentucky continues in many different ways among the partner organizations. One of the ways that the partnership is working towards ensuring kids are safe and families are thriving is by engaging in locally-focused conversations around primary and secondary child abuse prevention.  The Department for Community Based Services, Administrative Office of the Courts, and Kentucky Youth Advocates facilitated 9 regional community conversations called Visioning Sessions to engage each region [...]

By |2023-03-07T16:15:09-05:00July 7th, 2022|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|
Read More

Ending the Mental Health-to-Incarceration Pipeline

Should children with mental health issues be incarcerated, or should they be given proper access to mental health treatment? In Kentucky specifically, 7 out of 10 youth involved with the juvenile justice system have a mental health condition. The National Juvenile Justice Network (NJJN) recently released a new graphic (below) covering the mental health to incarceration pipeline so let’s take a look at how mental health and incarceration go hand in hand. Currently 1 in [...]

By |2022-07-06T16:34:54-04:00July 6th, 2022|Blog, Education, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
Read More

A Look at the New Early Childhood Education Task Force

The 2022 legislative session has ended, and now Kentucky’s lawmakers are dedicating their time to interim meetings in order to learn more about issues pressing the Commonwealth. This year a new committee has been added specifically to look at Kentucky’s early care and education systems – the Early Childhood Education Task Force is chaired by Senator Danny Carroll from Paducah and Representative Samara Heavrin from Leitchfield. They are joined by Senators Wil Schroder, Reginald Thomas, [...]

By |2022-07-06T16:14:24-04:00July 6th, 2022|Blog, Economic Security, Education, Race Equity|
Read More

Keep Kids Fed Act

At the start of the pandemic, Congress acted quickly to ensure schools and nonprofits had the tools and flexibilities needed to keep kids fed. Waivers like the congregate feeding waiver have allowed schools in rural Kentucky to deliver meals directly to kids, while higher reimbursement rates have helped schools and child care centers weather staffing and supply chain challenges.  Last week, Congress once again acted quickly to ensure that these flexibilities and higher reimbursements were [...]

By |2022-06-30T16:58:48-04:00June 30th, 2022|Blog, Economic Security, Health|
Read More

Reflections from the 2022 KY Commission on Race & Access to Opportunity

Read about the November 2021 meeting of the Commission on Race and Opportunity here.  Following the 2021 General Assembly, SB 10, co-sponsored by Senator Givens, Senator Whitney Westerfield, and Senate President Robert Stivers, became law and established the Commission on Race and Access to Opportunity. The group is tasked with studying and researching issues where disparities may exist across various sectors to determine areas of improvement and to provide services and opportunities for communities of [...]

By |2022-06-30T12:08:31-04:00June 30th, 2022|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety, Economic Security, Education, Health, Justice, Race Equity, Youth Justice|
Read More

Join us in Recognizing and Celebrating Reunification Month

Parenting can be tough under normal circumstances but adding in extra obstacles that come with getting a family back together after child removal can be even more challenging. While foster care may be a necessary option when there are safety and well-being concerns, the ideal goal is to return children to their own families and back in their homes whenever safely possible.   During the month of June, Kentucky joined other states to recognize National [...]

By |2022-06-30T11:50:06-04:00June 29th, 2022|Blog, Child Welfare & Safety|
Read More

New Suicide Prevention Hotline Coming Soon

Mental health support and suicide prevention resources are a critical resource for Kentuckians. Children and their families across the Commonwealth struggled with their mental health well before the isolation and other challenges brought forth by the pandemic. Coming in July, a new three-digit number for suicide response and mental health crisis care – 988 – will be available across the Commonwealth, and nationwide.   July 2022 marks the shift of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline [...]

By |2022-06-29T17:18:44-04:00June 27th, 2022|Blog, Health|
Read More
Go to Top